


Painkiller

by NovemberNights



Series: Eyepatch Keith AU [4]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Blade of Marmora Keith (Voltron), Blood, Blood and Injury, Eyepatch, Eyepatch Keith, F/M, Galra Keith (Voltron), Minor Allura/Lance (Voltron), blushing tomatoes, kolivan is best surrogate father figure
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-22
Updated: 2019-08-22
Packaged: 2020-09-24 04:08:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,923
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20352139
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NovemberNights/pseuds/NovemberNights
Summary: After an accident on a Blade mission, Keith and his team arrive at the Rebel base where Voltron is grounded for repairs to the castleship. Keith has injured his hand, though he's not too keen on letting Katie see it.In which Keith needs a prosthetic.Takes place roughly a year and a half afterRewired,during year 6 in space.





	Painkiller

**Author's Note:**

> So I recently put together a timeline for this AU because it's getting too big to keep in my head, haha. I may start adding timestamps to the fics/chapters in this au to make the chronology more obvious.
> 
> Might be a taaaaad bit rushed toward the end bc I was itching to get it done, oof.
> 
> I realized too late that I inconsistently capitalized Luxite & I don't want to mess with fixing them all, lol.

Katie drums her fingers against her thigh in impatience as she waits for the Blades to return from their latest mission. Something about investigating a base Lotor may be occupying. Keith hadn’t been generous on the details. She sighs and leans against the crate to her back, its smooth metal surface cool on her neck.

She’s sitting in the loading bay of a Rebel base on the Alliance planet Orendyl, and the humidity. Is. _Disgusting._ Not even a tank top and her sleep shorts can stave off the oppressive moisture in the air. Beside her, Allura pries stray strands of her silvery hair away from her skin, attempting to force them into a hair tie. Katie cracks a wry grin, commiserating with her teammate; her own hair is pulled back in a short, messy ponytail with a headband to keep her bangs from plastering themselves to her forehead like a dying octopus.

The hum of a ship’s engines reaches her ears, and Katie turns her attention to the open bay doors that overlook the planet’s jungle down below. The sleek, dark Blade spacecraft is easing down toward the landing platform, and Katie cackles hysterically.

Allura shoots her an odd look, “What are you laughing for?”

“Because,” Katie grins and points a finger cheekily towards the Blade spacecraft, “Keith gets to join us in our suffering.”

The Blades had been keeping themselves busy as of late, and today is the first time in months that the Paladins get to see them in person. As excited as she is to see Keith again, her impish desire for him to experience what he’s been missing out on for the two weeks they’ve been on Orendyl voices itself, drawing an amused expression out of the Red Paladin beside her.

Allura forgets about her hair for a moment and stifles her laughter with a hand, “Oh my, Katie, as mean-spirited as that is, I’m afraid it would be far too funny a sight to pass up.”

“Right?” Katie grins. “Ooh, they’re cutting the engines. Let’s head over,” she adds, peeling herself off the crate to her back and jumping to her feet. Allura follows her at the pace of a soggy sloth as Katie leads the way to the ship.

The pair of them stand just outside the marked-off landing zone, along with Shiro and a fair number of Rebels and the maintenance crew. The humidity had already claimed its victories over Lance and Hunk, as Voltron’s legs had already run back inside with the excuse of needing to grab snacks. It was a terrible excuse, but Shiro had let them go. Katie mentally rolls her eyes; she imagines they’re probably playing video games in team Voltron's temporary meeting room instead.

With the ship landed, a Rebel maintenance crew hurries to secure its landing props to the platform while the ramp deploys. Two Blades hop out of the ship as soon as the ramp hits the ground and begin to work their way around the ship for their routine post-flight check. One of them darts back up the ramp once the check is complete, replaced by a third Blade, and Kolivan. Kolivan stops about halfway down the ramp, however, and turns back towards the ship’s interior to utter a few quiet words.

Which earns him an irritable, and definitely audible, “I _know,_ Kolivan.”

Katie’s brow furrows at the sharp tone she detects in what is obviously Keith’s voice, and a hint of worry bubbles up in her throat as another pair of feet starts down the ramp.

Kolivan turns and resumes his walk, soon followed by Keith, then stops to wait for him at the bottom. 

Keith stumbles off the ship, a steady stream of curses spilling from his lips. His right hand is held fast in the grip of his left, bright blood slipping between his fingers. It’s worrying, to say the least, and Katie bites back the urge to call out to him because he’s speaking with Kolivan. Her desire for Keith to experience Orendyl’s humidity first hand now feels cruel and unwarranted, and she stamps it out of her mind with a guilty conscience.

Allura’s hand lands on her shoulder, jolting Katie out of her thoughts.

“He’s cursing up a storm. I think he’s fine.”

Katie snorts into her hand, “Yes, I suppose you’re right.” She knows that means Keith is frustrated with the injury more than anything. It’s when the wound is more severe that he gets quiet, usually keeping his focus on mitigating the pain, trying to keep people from noticing. That doesn’t make it any less concerning to her, however.

“I’m going to go wait for Kolivan with Shiro,” Allura says, patting her shoulder.

Katie hums in acknowledgement, “Okay. See you later.”

“You too,” Allura nods at her before dipping back into the small crowd. Katie returns her attention to Keith.

When he finally turns away from Kolivan, there’s a dark scowl on his face as his feet take him away from the Blade leader. Eager to catch his attention before he gets too far, Katie waves an arm above her head until he looks her way. She watches him blink in surprise, and the scowl begins to melt off of his face as he changes course toward her.

“Katie…” he says quietly. 

She musters up a smile despite the oppressive humidity, “I’ve missed you.”

The sullen expression on Keith’s face slips a little as he chuckles slightly, “You video called me last week.”

“I miss seeing more than just your face. And I can’t hug you through the screen,” she says, poking him in the shoulder. “Or kiss you, for that matter.”

Keith looks down, “Guess you’re right about that.”

Katie lightly clasps her hands around his, “Nor can I ask you _what_ exactly happened to your hands. What did you do? Is this related to your talk with Kolivan just now?”

He winces slightly at the added pressure on his hands, and Katie is quick to pull her hands back with a whispered apology.

Keith shakes his head, “You’re fine, it was an accident.” His eye is drawn downward once again by a faint splashing sound. He blinks, and Katie follows his gaze to the new red splotch by their feet.

Pouting, she huffs at him, “It’s not fine. You can tell me what happened while we walk to the medbay, okay? It’s not far.”

His shoulders drop, “Alright.” 

“Good,” Katie nods to herself, “Now come on, before you bleed everywhere.”

“I am not!” Keith protests, though he follows after her dutifully.

She holds up her hands for him to see the dash of red across her fingers, “I barely touched you.”

Keith looks at his hands, then at the wall opposite from her, “Yeah.”

Katie stops by a doorway under a sign Keith doesn’t bother to read and plants her hand onto the access panel, “Get your butt inside and start talking.”

Rolling his eyes, Keith steps into a sterile smelling room full of medical equipment of various origin and age. He wrinkles his nose at the smell while Katie slips past him to get into the room. He watches her as she approaches one of the Rebel doctors, an Olkari it seems, which is somewhat unusual for this part of space. Katie's exchange with the Olkari is brief, and ends as the doctor points across the room, and she thanks him before returning to Keith.

“He said there’s a few open stations we can pick from. He’ll come over and take a look in a little bit if needed,” she says, tugging on his left arm to lead him in the right direction.

Keith grumbles quietly to himself but falls into step beside her.

The stations of the medical bay are… simple, compared to the Castle of Lions or the Blade’s facilities. Though, the hodge-podge of equipment and supplies is to be expected of the Rebels. They take what they can get. Katie stops by the fifth or so station, not that Keith had really been paying attention to how many there were. His focus is on the pain in his right hand. It lances up his arm like lightning with every movement, and had been since boarding the Blade ship. He could only hope the Rebels had a decent painkiller.

There’s a bed and a pair of chairs and a set of drawers in the station, and Keith opts to seat himself in one of the chairs while Katie rifles through the contents of the drawers, looking for… something. Keith cradles his hands in his lap, which does nothing for the pain but makes him mildly more comfortable. He watches Katie shut one of the drawers with a huff, pulling another out in her search, and he shifts his attention upwards. Her hair, he notes, is drawn back with a combination of a headband and a ponytail. It’s an unusual look for her, and he wonders why. Regardless of her reasoning, he likes it. It’s cute.

And it’s a good distraction from the pain.

Katie snatches something from the drawer she’s rooting through and holds it up triumphantly, “Ha! I’ve found it!”

Keith raises an eyebrow, “Found what?”

She lowers her arm and drags the empty chair around to face him before settling into it, “Antiseptic wipes. And hand towels.” She holds up the items for him to see, then sets them aside on the bed. “We’ll clean you up and then call the doctor over if you need it. Show me your hands.”

Keith frowns and looks down, “I… No.”

Katie raises an eyebrow in question, “What?”

“I’d... rather not show you.”

She rests the towel in her hands on her knees, her brows furrowed, “Keith, what’s wrong?”

He’s hesitant to reply, staring at his hands for a while before speaking, “It’s not a pleasant sight…” he pauses, raising his head to meet her gaze, “My hand was caught in some debris, and there was an explosion nearby. It freed my hand but I suddenly had pain bolting through my hand and up my arm. It… tore my finger off,” he looks away. “It’s gone.”

“The funny thing is, if not for the blast I’d have been able to get my hand back whole,” he says, though there’s a lack of humor in his voice. Keith shuts his eye with a frustrated grimace, “And now Kolivan’s taking me off the next mission.”

Katie folds her hands in her lap, “I see.” She looks to the side, lips twisting into a thoughtful pout as if she wants to say something.

Whatever it is, Keith doesn’t particularly want to hear it at the moment. He puffs a strand of hair away from his eye, “Hey, uh, was there anything like aspirin in those drawers? Some painkiller would be really nice right now.”

She blinks and turns to face him, then sags in her chair, “Ugh, no. I searched every one of those drawers and these were the only useful things they had. They seem to be short on supplies,” she grumbles, tossing the towel on her knees aside. Katie stands up and presses a kiss to the top of his head, “I’ll go talk to one of the doctors.”

Keith nods, and watches her go, hoping it won’t take long. The quiet rush of the door opening on the other side of the room draws his attention away, however, and he spots Kolivan as he steps inside, accompanied by Shiro and Allura behind him. A scowl returns to his face as they approach, coming to a stop in front of him. Kolivan gives the towels Katie had tossed aside a cursory glance before meeting Keith’s gaze.

“I told you, I’ll be _fine,_ Kolivan,” Keith says irritably.

“That’s not what this is about.”

Confusion spreads across Keith’s face, “Then, what?” His eye flicks to Allura, and the growing smile on her face. _What’s got her so excited?_

“I’ve sent word back to our main base to have the bladesmith visit you here on Orendyl with some Luxite. Shiro’s agreed to have his prosthetic examined so that a design can be drafted using it as a base. Hunk has already been asked to assist with the work and we’re expecting Katie will agree as well. You’ll have a prosthetic and be back in the field soon enough,” Kolivan explains.

“Hunk estimates it’ll be ready for you within the month,” Allura adds, “Barring any major dilemmas, of course.”

“Just don’t go trying to copy me, okay?” Shiro jokes, smiling as he bumps his prosthetic fist against Keith’s shoulder gently.

Keith snorts and rolls his eyes, “That’s not my intention, Shiro.”

“Good, I’d prefer that you stay in one piece,” Kolivan comments, pulling out the chair Katie had been occupying earlier to seat himself. “Now, tell me why you haven’t gotten this cleaned up yet,” he gestures at Keith’s hands with a frown.

“I… didn’t want Katie to see,” Keith admits. Katie had been in an odd mood for a while after his eye injury, melancholic, almost. He’d rather not see her like that again.

Allura utters a quiet coo behind her hand, and Keith flashes a quick glare in her direction, causing her to turn around to hide her giggles. Keith sinks in his chair and holds his hands out to Kolivan.

“Go ahead. Just… don’t let her get too close when she comes back.”

“Fair enough,” Kolivan nods as he takes one of the towels from the bed and lays it across Keith’s knees. 

“Where did Katie go?” Shiro asks, as Kolivan pries Keith’s hands apart gently. They’re both stained a vibrant red.

“To find me some painkiller,” Keith says, hissing while Kolivan removes the blood-soaked gauze pad covering his severed finger.

“That bad, huh?”

“Shiro, my finger’s off!” Keith exclaims, gesturing at his injured hand.

Kolivan pushes Keith’s good hand away, “Don’t move.” 

“Sorry.”

“It’s just unusual for you to be so vocal about an injury, Keith,” Shiro notes.

“I can’t… I don’t know, _ignore_ it. Normally I can focus on something else and the pain goes away a little,” Keith says, wincing as Kolivan carefully wipes away the blood on his hand.

Shiro hums in understanding, “Hopefully Katie finds some good stuff for you.”

“I’m sure they’ve got something around here,” Allura adds. “By the way, which finger is it? If you don’t mind my asking.” She can’t see his injured hand from her position behind Kolivan.

“Yeah. I just hope she finds it soon,” Keith holds up his left hand, touching his thumb to his middle finger, “And it’s this one.”

Allura nods and—

“Keith!” Katie yells from across the room, “We found something!”

“I’m surprised by how long that took,” Keith mutters.

“We?” Allura asks, switching gears at the arrival of the Green Paladin.

“She went to go talk to a doctor about getting the meds,” Keith explains.

“Ah,” Allura nods, and turns around, “That’s wonderful, Katie!” she calls back, walking towards her.

“Hey, Allura!”

Shiro pats Keith’s shoulder gently, “I’ll take her to the meeting room where Hunk and Lance are. We can get started discussing plans for your prosthetic.”

“Thank you,” Keith breathes, visibly relaxing.

A wry smile pulls at Kolivan’s lips as he turns Keith’s hand over, inspecting the wound.

“What?”

“You.”

Keith rests his chin on his free hand and looks to the side, grumbling, not caring that it’s still blood-stained.

“Katie compliments you well,” Kolivan says quietly, setting the bloodied towels aside in a neat stack.

Keith shifts his hand to cover his face, “_Kolivan._”

The Blade leader chuckles to himself, returning Keith’s injured hand to his lap as he stands up as Allura returns with the Olkari doctor. He nods to them both in turn, then places a hand on Keith’s shoulder.

“You’re to stay with Voltron until you’re comfortable with the prosthetic,” he pauses, giving the younger Blade a pat, “I want you to rest, son.”

Keith nods solemnly, watching him turn and leave the medical bay while Allura assists the doctor with preparing the station for work on his injured hand. When the door shuts behind Kolivan, Keith’s tired gaze slides to Allura and the Olkari. He can’t hide the pain any longer.

“Can you guys knock me out?”

***

Katie grumbles at the mechanisms spread out on the table between her and Hunk, who’s absent-mindedly poking a screwdriver at one of the parts. She flaps a hand at him to make him stop and lays her head on the table.

“I’m stuck.”

Hunk scratches the back of his head. “Yeah I gotta admit, I’m not really sure how we get from here to, well, that,” he says, pointing at Shiro’s prosthetic.

The Black Paladin sighs from his seat at the end of the table between them, “I still think you two should take a break. _I’m_ tired. Why aren’t you?”

“That Galran general that attacked Quanfor 9 last week put us off schedule,” Katie grumbles.

“You were already ahead of schedule according to Hunk’s estimates though,” Shiro counters, “In fact, I think you still are.”

“It bothers me that we’re behind regardless.”

“That, and Keith doesn’t do well with idle time,” Hunk adds.

Katie nods, “It’s been the better part of three weeks since he got here. If he’s not training or otherwise busy, he’s pouting because no one will let him go anywhere, Kosmo's with his mom, and Orendyl’s too disgustingly humid to go outside,” she sighs. “If we didn’t need you to study your arm, I’d ask you to go take him to the space mall or something, Shiro.”

“I thought you two took scans and rendered it?” Shiro asks.

“It’s not the same,” Hunk laments.

“As great as computers are, being hands on with the tech is way more beneficial,” Katie explains, “Especially right now.”

“That’s fair,” Shiro agrees. Then he pushes back his chair and stands up, “Regardless, It’s late, so I’m going to bed. If you’re not going to sleep, at least take a break. Play some Killbot Phantasm or something, okay?”

“Okay,” they chorus.

“Playing a video game actually doesn’t sound like a bad idea,” Hunk muses, after Shiro leaves.

Katie raises an eyebrow, “Really?”

Hunk nods, “If you want, I can go make us some nachos real quick, too.”

“When you put it that way, I guess that does sound nice,” Katie grins. “Better make extra, I’ll go see if Keith and Lance want to join us. We’ll make it a sleepover.”

“Meet you back here in twenty minutes?”

“Sounds like a plan!”

***

“Hunk. Hunk, wake up.” Katie exclaims, shaking the Yellow Paladin’s shoulders excitedly.

“Ah! What, what is it?” Hunk asks, sitting upright in alarm.

“I’ve figured it out! I know what we have to do!” She grins, pumping a fist into the air.

“Do what?”

“Can you guys shut up? Some of us need our beauty sleep,” Lance whines, rolling over in his sleeping bag.

Katie pouts at him, then turns back to Hunk, lowering her voice, “For Keith’s prosthetic. I had a dream and the pieces fit together differently from how we thought they did,” she explains, tugging on Hunk’s wrist. “Come on, I’ll draw it out and show you.”

Hunk’s eyes widen, “Really?”

Katie slouches, “Yeah, duh. I would not be waking you up at—” she cranes her neck around to check the clock over the meeting room’s turned-off holoscreen, “—five-thirty in the morning if I wasn’t serious,” she says, turning back to him.

Yawning, Hunk concedes and gets out of his sleeping bag, shuffling across the room behind Katie, who already has some of the parts in her hands.

“So this is the basic idea,” she starts, uncapping a marker and scribbling down a loose sketch on a notepad.

Hunk peers at Katie’s drawing carefully, “Okay, but how do we actually _do_ that?”

Katie points to a place on the piece in her hand, “We’ll need the bladesmith to make a new part to go here…”

***

“Where are we going?” Keith asks, keeping a hand along the wall as Katie leads him through the halls of the Orendyl Rebel base.

“It’s a surprise!” Katie giggles, unwilling to satisfy him with an answer.

“Could you at least have used a real blindfold rather than giving me another eyepatch?” he sighs.

“Aw, but you look silly. And cute,” she taps a finger on his nose.

Keith wrinkles his nose in response, “Are we there yet?”

“Almost. Five more steps,” Katie says, and soon the sound of a door sliding open reaches Keith’s ears. Katie pulls him inside and steers him further into the room, before pushing him into a chair he suspects belongs to the medical bay by the feel of it.

“Katie, what did you do to him?” Allura questions, laughter in her voice.

“Isn’t it great?”

“Can I take it off now?” Keith asks, gesturing toward the second eyepatch.

“Just one second,” Katie says, before a small rectangular object is placed across his knees, “Ok, ready.”

“Go ahead, Keith,” Shiro’s voice seems to barely be holding back laughter of his own.

Reaching up to his face, Keith hooks a thumb under the second eyepatch and lifts it away, blinking as his eye readjusts to the light. In front of him, all of the Paladins are assembled, cheerful smiles on their faces. Then he turns his attention down to the object Katie had given him.

It’s a small, nondescript box with a shallow lid, that he removes and sets aside.

“Wow,” he whispers, carefully picking up the luxite prosthetic inside, “You and Hunk did this?” he looks to Katie.

She nods, smiling, “Yup! The bladesmith made all the parts for us, but we planned it all out and pieced it together.”

“It’s designed to fit with the base the doctor already gave you, so all that’s left is to attach it,” Hunk adds.

Keith turns the prosthetic over in his hands, admiring the craftsmanship, “Thank you. It’s amazing.”

Katie sets down a toolkit on the floor by Keith and opens it up, “I’m glad you like it.”

“Why wouldn’t I?”

Katie’s cheeks flush as she holds Keith’s hand steady for Hunk to fit the prosthetic onto the base, “I—I don’t know.”

Leaning forward, Keith presses a kiss to her forehead, “Thank you,” he says softly.

“Aw, you guys are so cute,” Allura coos, causing the both of them to turn beet red.

“Sh—shut up, Allura! You and Lance are no better!” Katie retorts.

“Ooh, she’s got a point there,” Hunk adds while screwing in the last piece of Keith’s prosthetic.

Shiro chuckles, as two-thirds of the group turn shades of red, “Okay guys, chill out. Keith, how does it feel?”

“Oh, uh,” Keith starts, staring down at his hand as he flexes his fingers. The prosthetic fits perfectly, and moves just as smoothly as the rest of his digits. “It’s, wow, really smooth. And super light too, I can hardly tell the difference.”

“Awesome, that makes me happy,” Hunk grins. “Take good care of it. We shouldn’t have to repair it since it’s luxite, but if we do, it won’t be easy.”

Keith nods, “Got it.”

“Now then, why don’t we go get celebratory smoothies from the kitchen?” Hunk asks, looking around at everyone.

“Ooh, good idea,” Allura smiles, accompanied by a chorus of agreement from the others as they move towards the door. 

Keith smiles to himself as he trails behind the group. Moments like these don’t come as frequent as they once did.

**Author's Note:**

> Deleted Scene because I'm sorry Lance you had _one line:_
> 
> “Keith, dude, you know what this means?” Lance asks, a cheeky grin on his face.  
“Uh, no,” Keith replies in confusion.  
“You can flip people off and blame it on technical difficulties.”  
“Oh my g— _Lance,_” Keith sputters, the pair devolving into laughter.
> 
> Also I couldn't come up with a good title for this fic so if anyone has any suggestions I'll consider changing it.


End file.
